Sequencing the ages, Eric Hobsbawm distinguishes the age of revolution (1789-1848), the age of capital (1848-1875), the age of empire (1875-1914) and the age of extremes (1914-1991). Considering Europe and moving the cursor only slightly, the twentieth century might rather be viewed as the age of crisis (1914-1989).
In the mid-1930s, with Europe on the brink, Stefan Zweig delivered an uncompromising analysis of the permanent instead of momentary crisis that Europe had faced since 1914. Echoing Zweig in the early 1980s, Edgar Morin – also taking 1914 as his starting point – considered the twentieth century as the century of crisis and the century in crisis. Broadening his analysis, Morin further turned the spotlight on the intertwined and paradoxical processes with which we are confronted: “we find ourselves in a world that appears to us both in evolution, in revolution, in progression, in regression, in crisis, in danger.” [1]
This is a tempting viewpoint on three counts. Firstly, it provides us with an initial framework from which to view Bojan Stojčić’s Viva la Transición!. Secondly, it matches – and frames – an approach to democracy which sees it surfing between waves of democratization and de-democratization. Thirdly, it brings us back to what I would argue is the tipping point between two eras: November 9, 1989.
